This is a blog for my writing and also any random musings that I may happen to spurt out. Please note that all writings are by me, unless otherwise stated and do not take them for your own. Thank you!
Maureen

Friday, March 23, 2007

Before I go

First of all, this has to be the coolest thing ever! Hat/bonnet/chapeau tip to Orthodixie.

Now on to the 100 books thingy that's been circulating the internet.

ReadHaven't readRead parts1 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen--Absolutely. One of my all-time favorites, although I contest that Persuasion is better.2 The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien--Again, absolutely. Two of my three favorite authors in the top two!!! Woo hoo!3 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte--Yes. It's good but not a favorite like Dickens, Austen, or even Gaskell4 Harry Potter series by JK Rowling--Well, I've read two. Didn't find them to be that good and didn't like the magic part. So no, not really.5 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee--Yes! Awesome book. :D6The Bible--Having just finished Revelations for the first time, yes.7 Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte--Nope.8 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell--Nope9 His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman--Read the first two, heard how #3 ended and decided it was stupid. Later found out he hates Narnia and lost all respect for him.10 Great Expectations by Charles Dickens--Yes, my least favorite Dickens. Estella needs a smack upside the head.11Little Women by Louisa M Alcott--Yup. Love it!12 Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy--Yes, in AP English. Beautiful writing, terribly depressing story.13 Catch-22 Joseph Heller--No.14 Complete Works of Shakespeare by William Shakespeare--I've read some of them, but certainly not all. The histories don't interest me so much.15 Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier--Yes. Liked it, but I don't know that I'll ever read it again.16 The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien--Yes. Not as good as LotR IMHO.17 Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks--Never heard of it.18 Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger--Nope19 The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger--Nope20 Middlemarch by George Eliot--Yes. Need to re-read it. My unread copy from Barnes and Noble is looking at me reproachfully on the bookshelf.21 Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell--Nope.22 The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald--AP English Language! Beautifully heartbreaking book, but not, IMO, as depressing as Tess.23 Bleak House by Charles Dickens--YES!!! Love Bleak House!!!24 War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy --No. Maybe someday, but Doestoevsky takes precedence.25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams--Yes. Completely disagreed with it, but so funny!!!!!26 Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh--Nope27 Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky--I probably will at some point.28 Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck--Veggie Tales is what I first thought of and I only heard of that song after I got to college. And I knew about the book before the song. Anyway, no I haven't.29 Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll--Parts of it.30 The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame --Yes.31 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy --Nope. Dostoevsky still takes precedence over Tolstoy.32 David Copperfield by Charles Dickens--Yep. First Dickens I ever read.33 Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis--Naturally!34 Emma by Jane Austen--Yes. I don't like Emma Woodhouse, but I do like the book.35 Persuasion by Jane Austen--They put this AFTER Emma??? Not right! Best Austen ever!!!!36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis--Wait, isn't this part of Chronicles of Narnia?37 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini--Never heard of it.38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières--Never heard of it.39Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden--No.40 Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne--YES!! I love Winnie the Pooh. (Or Pooh for short. ;))41Animal Farm by George Orwell--Yes. Interesting but not the best ever.42 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown--No.43 One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez--No.44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving--Never heard of it.45 The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins--YES! It's only the first mystery story ever!!46Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery--YES!!! I love AoGG. :D47 Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy--No.48 The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood--No.49 Lord of the Flies by William Golding--No. Not really.50Atonement by Ian McEwan--Never heard of it.51Life of Pi by Yann Martel--Read it. Meh.52 Dune by Frank Herbert--No.53 Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons--Nope.54Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen--Yes. Good, but not my favorite.55 A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth--Never heard of it.56 The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon--No.57A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens--Yes. Only an awesome book. :D58 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley--Nope.59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark Haddon--Never heard of it.60 Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez--No.61 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck--No.62 Lolitaby Vladimir Nabokov--No.63 The Secret History by Donna Tartt--No.64 The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold--No.65 Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas--Yes. Awesome bbook.66 On The Road by Jack Kerouac--No.67 Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy--No, but I own it.68 Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding--I think I'd like to some day, because of the Austen connection.69 Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie--Never heard of it.70 Moby Dick by Herman Melville--Bits.71 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens--This isn't my favorite Dickens but yes, I have read it.72 Dracula by Bram Stoker--Nope.73 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett--YES!!!74 Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson--No.75 Ulyssesby James Joyce--No.76 The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath--Yes. Very sad book.77 Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome--Grew up on them. Pretended I was Nancy. Any other questions?78 Germinal by Emile Zola--Nope.79 Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray--No.80 Possessionby AS Byatt--No.81 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens--Yes.82 Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell--No.83 The Color Purple by Alice Walker--No.84 The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro--I read When We Were Orphans by the same author.85Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert--Nope.86A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry--No.87 Charlotte's Webby EB White--Yes. And I cry at the end.88 The Five People You Meet In Heavenby Mitch Albom--No.89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle--I'm not sure that i've read the whole thing, but I've read most of them.90 The Faraway Tree Collection by Enid Blyton--No.91 Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad--Yes, in AP English. Beautiful writing, not so sure about the sentiment.92 The Little Prince byAntoine de Saint-Exupery--Yes.93 The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks--Never heard of it.94 Watership Down by Richard Adams--Nope.95A Confederacy of Dunces byJohn Kennedy Toole--Nope.96 A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute--Nope.97 The Three Musketeers byAlexandre Dumas--Yes. Not as good as The Count of Monte Cristo.98 Hamletby William Shakespeare--Yes! Best play he ever wrote.99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl--Yes. :D100 Les Misérables by Victor Hugo--YES!! So amazing.

3 comments:

I haven't before seen this list--although mostly it is a good one. I am usually skeptical of seeing newer books on lists like these because they haven't been around long enough to prove themselves by longevity.

slskenyon, I am very skeptical of them as well. I can think of several books that I would place on that list instead of those which have yet to prove themselves. Just because everyone is reading it now doesn't necessarily mean it it's great. (See Castle of Otranto, The.)

Jocelyn, you're very welcome. I enjoyed your work immensely. What an interesting idea! And you executed it very well.

About Me

I am an Eastern Orthodox Christian girl, living in the Northwest United States and a college student. I studied in London, England, spring semester of my junior year, which was an amazing experience! I tend to talk about books here but you never really know what is going to pop up!